Ordinarily when rents start to get too much people will make the jump to home ownership, thereby lessening demand on the rental market. But in the current climate interest rates are so high that many renters simply can’t afford to take out a mortgage.

Rents continue to be well below property prices, and it looks like they would have to rise at least another 20 per cent, based on current real estate prices, before rental prices and property prices are on par with each other. The one positive is that property prices are falling, quite dramatically in some places, and that may be the one saving grace. If real estate prices go down, then property investment might become appealing again.